Change from the Ashes
by Pichooi
Summary: Set in a time shortly after Simba's Pride. New friendships are formed,opinions of old ones are changed. Rafiki is growing frail and fire threatens to consume the lands.Chapter 6 up now! Kovu ventures out and Simba and Nala get fed up of doing nothing.
1. Chapter 1

Hello there! Wow it has certainly been a long time between stories for me yet again. Hope you all enjoy. I do not own The Lion King or any of the characters except Sasa. This story is not connected t my others.

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It was a bright and sunny day out in the Pride Lands. Actually it was a bit too sunny and hot for comfort.

Vitani and Kiara were certainly feeling the heat while they were hunting in the grasslands, which were now so dehydrated that the grass actually looked more like straw rather than the lush green plains that it had been during the wet season.

Vitani had taken over from Kovu in assisting Kiara become a better huntress. She was, after all, the better of the two siblings at it as being female it came more naturally to her than to her brother, who in her opinion, actually had a rather crude way of killing. So far Kiara had managed to scare off a herd of gazelle and wilderbeast through heavy breathing and once by tripping over. She while practicing her stalking had come very close to a family of warthog and could have certainly come away with a piglet or two but refused to follow through with it as she could never bring herself to harm any animals who were the same species as any of her friends. This annoyed Vitani considerably as she herself would have liked to snag one. She thought Kiara too soft for her own good. She tried to explain to Kiara that they could just eat it there and then and her friend need never know, but this was refused. Vitani accepted this begrudgingly in the end and the two instead worked on creeping up on a herd of Zebra they could see in the distance.

Kovu was spending the day patrolling the borders for rogue lions who may threaten to overthrow the king and take over the pride. Simba was still fairly young given that he and Nala started their family when they had barely finished adolescence. He could certainly still defend his pride against many such rogues himself. There was no denying however, that Kovu, being younger still and having strong muscles from a life of being trained to be a killing machine could, if he wanted to, overthrow the king himself which was the natural instinct for younger males. For lions even sons often return to their prides and overthrow their own fathers so love and friendship usually have very little influence on this instinct. Kovu however wouldn't do such a thing as Simba was a good king in his opinion and had become quite the fatherly figure to him and his love of Kiara would not let him consider such action. He let out his fighting instincts instead by chasing away these rogues. So far it looked like the pride would be safe for yet another day, but he continued his patrol as always.

The outlanders had now been with the Simba's Pride for about six months now so things had settled down quite a bit and it was almost as if they had always been one pride. Of course some had taken longer then others to fully trust the newcomers. Zazu, Timon and Pumbaa had naturally been a bit wary of the outlanders for the first few weeks as although they had befriended the lions they couldn't help think that carnivores who had been deprived of a suitable amount of food for so long a period would be able to resist the lure of having prey animals in such close quarters. Pumbaa had been the first to get over this due to his generally trusting nature which is quite ironic as he being the largest would have provided the greatest temptation.

Timon and Zazu on the other hand, had only mostly gotten over it. It could be noticed that they still tried to avoid all situations where they would be alone with an outlander.

On this particular day most of the pride had left the rock to either hunt or warm themselves as they catnapped in the sun. Timon and Pumbaa thought it a shame to stay inside too so were having a leisurely stroll around the lands and Zazu had found himself a tree by the water hole which provided him with a place to relax and a prime location to view the goings on between the citizens of the Pride Lands at this common social meeting place. Zazu spent most of his days alone as he found he had little in common with Timon and Pumbaa. He and Timon usually ended up fighting about something or other actually as they had very different viewpoints on life. He did spend some time with Sarabi and Sarafina but as lions tend to sleep half the day or more he was left to occupy himself most of the time.

Simba, Nala, Sarafina and Sarabi were spending their day on a much more sombre note. They had gone to the Tree of Life to visit Rafiki whose age it seemed was finally catching up with him, not that the old mandrill would of course admit it to anyone. Despite him having become more and more frail Rafiki still went out and about the Pride Lands trying to help as many animals as possible despite prior protests from the royal family. Rafiki had of course sensed his time was coming near as he now had an assistant who was destined to take his place when his time came. Her name was Sasa and she was also a mandrill, supposedly the child of a second cousin of Rafiki as he had produced no children himself to replace him nor had he any close family. Her colouration was the same as Rafiki's but she was smaller in stature and had notably bigger eyes which were a deep chocolate brown. She was very softly spoken and kind.

Sasa was now competent enough to handle most of the duties that would be required of her as shaman of the lands which made Rafiki's refusal to take things easy all the more unnecessary. Today however the heat had indeed taken its toll on the seemingly ancient mandrill as he had fainted that morning while out in the lands trying to assist a rhino give birth due to heat exhaustion.

The lions hated to see their old friend in such a state. He had always seemed so lively despite his age. He had been shaman even before the two older lionesses had been born so the lions could be excused from just presuming that he would simply live forever.

Rafiki had now, with help of Sasa, regained consciousness and lay sprawled out in the tree as Sasa fanned him with a leaf and tried to get him to drink some water out of a cup made from half a gourd. It had not been easy for her to bring him up the tree in his unconscious state but she had apparently made a pulley out of the vines to complete the task. One of the Rhinos near at the site where Rafiki had collapsed was kind enough to carry him to the foot of the tree for her.

"Dear Rafiki, you really must not over exert yourself anymore," said Sarabi who like the rest of the party had managed to climb up the tree and sat on one of the many strong branches inside. It never ceased to amaze the lions how the interior of the tree seemed so much larger then the outside. Many suspected there was some strange magic surrounding the tree.

"Sarabi is right," agreed Sarafina, " we ourselves have began to take things a little easier as we are approaching our senior years, and we are far younger than you."

"You have picked a fine apprentice and I believe the time has come for you to allow her to take over," added Simba. It was quite surreal for all of them to be given advice to the one who was usually guiding them.

"Dis I know," sighed Rafiki. " De circle of life is soon to set on dis silly ape but de shamans calling feels as strong to me as it was de first time de winds told me of my purpose."

"Don't be silly Rafiki," said Nala, "you still have a good many years left we just need you to take it easy so you can enjoy them."

"Oh my dear child," smiled Rafiki reaching out and stroking Nala's head. "I know my time is near, do not deny it. I would rather pass sooner from helping others then just relaxing and doing nothing. What is the use of a silly old ape who sits around picking flees out of his fur all day? I do not fear death, it is part of the great circle of life, and it is only the end if you choose to look at it that way. I know death to be more of de beginning. But fear not, I will go soon, but not today."

Rafiki then pulled himself up despite protests and sat facing his friends. He took a sip from his gourd. "So enough about me, tell me, is there anything exciting taking place at Pride Rock?"

From there they talked of many things such as which lionesses were expecting cubs, how many rogues had to be chased away, which herds were currently passing through the lands and other such chit chat and gossip. Rafiki changed the subject when it ever came back it him. It was obvious he didn't not want any more advice or to hear of any concerns regarding his own well being.

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There you have it chapter one! It pretty much just tells you where and what everyone is doing as their locations are important for what happens next. I can't promise I will be quick to update but I can promise that I will eventually finish this story as I hate it when people give up on them.

Sasa means help/ aid.


	2. Chapter 2

Yay another chapter is up. I am updating far sooner than I thought I would. Thank you to those who have read this and left reviews and thanks for pointing out the typo Maran Zelde it has now been fixed (along with many other bloopers I found while editing lol)

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Timon and Pumbaa had found a nice spot in which to relax for the day. Timon being a desert animal was quite happy to spend the day sunbaking despite the overbearing heat. He had currently found a nice flat rock and was lying flat on his back so the sun could warm his belly. Pumbaa wasn't quite as found of sunbaking, especially on a day like this and was trying to cool off in a nearby mud hole, which was not very high on mud, except for a small section in the middle as the rest had dried up. There was only really enough to cool his legs off.

"I don't think we should stay out here too long today Timon," suggested Pumbaa.

"Oh, and why is that?" asked Timon still with his eyes closed in a voice which suggested he was half asleep.

"I'm hot, and there isn't even enough mud to cool off in. It was nice when we first set off but now it's just too overbearing," explained Pumbaa. He and heat had never really agreed with each other. It made him smell even worse than usual and the flies had noticed and were congregating around his rump area. Pumbaa snorted at this and swatted them away with his tail only to have then fly back five seconds later.

"If you want to go, then go," replied Timon, "I'm quite happy to just lie here all day."

"But aren't you a bit exposed here?" asked Pumbaa. "If I leave, and you fall asleep then who is going to warn you of predators approaching?"

"Pumbaa, Pumbaa, Pumbaa…. Most predators in the Pride Lands know who we are and also know we are under Simba's protection. Eating us is against the law or something," said Timon waving his paw to dismiss Pumbaa's concern.

"But hawks and eagles flying through don't know that," replied Pumbaa.

"Well, I haven't seen many of those around today, so don't worry bout it. Hakuna Matata buddy."

"Well, if your sure," said Pumbaa sounding still a little uncertain of what to do.

"Sure I'm sure," answered Timon sitting up now and looking Pumbaa in the eye to make himself look more convincing. "I'm big enough and ugly enough to look after myself, now go and find some shade," making a shoo motion with his hands.

"Sorry to tell you this Timon, but your not exactly big or ugly. I would say your more small and furry," commented Pumbaa.

"It's a just a saying Pumbaa," retorted Timon rolling his eyes and shaking his head. "Look we are in view of the water hole I'm sure any predators will go there first and when those animals scatter I will know there is danger and hide. Besides I'm a light sleeper, the sound of a twig crunch is enough to wake me up. Does that make you feel better?"

"Uhh a bit I guess," uttered Pumbaa.

"Good, then goodbye," snapped Timon eager to get back to his sunbathing and plonking himself back down into a lying position.

"Ok, see you soon," replied Pumbaa, looking behind at his friend one last time before trotting off in search of shade.

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Kovu was now satisfied the lands would be safe from an invasion of a rogue for at least today and was beginning to head home. This would take a while as he in the middle of the western border where the desert meets the grasslands of the Pride Lands. He was feeling a little peckish however and when he saw some birds in the distance foraging for food on the ground he couldn't resist.

He stalked them carefully, trying not to make a sound and not even to breathe too loud. This provided little challenge for him as he was use to hunting small prey in the outlands as few larger animals ever ventured out that way.

Now he was so close he could almost taste the fresh juicy meat. He liked his lips in anticipation and was about to pounce when suddenly he caught sent of something in his sensitive nostrils which was quite alarming. "Smoke?" he thought aloud jerking up in surprise.

This also surprised the foul he was stalking as he suddenly had revealed his position which was a mere two feet away from them. They all flew up in a flutter of fear and confusion causing a great commotion.

As they flew away, one flew over Kovu and pooped and his shoulder. Wether this was just an accident which happened because the bird was so afraid at being so close to death, or the bird wanted revenge, Kovu didn't know, but he was too concerned about the smell of smoke to really care at that moment.

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Vitani and Kiara were very close to the herd of the zebra at this point. Vitani had told Kiara they were to go for the young adolescent one which appeared to have an injured front leg. The zebra was limping as it walked. It provided an ideal kill as it was small enough for two lionesses to take down but large enough to share with the pride. The weak leg would also make it an easier kill as zebra were quite tough game and it was always advisable to go for the weak ones.

"Ok, you stay here," said Vitani softly so as to not be overheard by the herd. "I am going to make my way to the opposite side of the herd. When you see me charge they should run right towards you, you should wait until they are very close then go straight for the one we picked out. Grab it by the neck and hold as hard as you can. I will tackle from behind and this should make it loose balance and fall."

"Right, Ok," nodded Kiara.

"Now it's important that even while it is falling you keep holding onto its neck. Only let go if it is going to fall on top of you," instructed Vitani.

"Yes I will remember that this time," said Kiara, remembering the unfortunate time she was almost crushed by a young wildebeest.

"Good, also I don't want you to look into its eyes at any time until it has passed, I can see it bothers you and as a hunter you can't afford to feel pity" warned Vitani sternly.

Kiara nodded and watched and Vitani she, while keeping low to the ground, crept her way around the herd to a position opposite her on the other side. Sometimes Kiara wished Vitani wouldn't be so business like when going on these outings. She had gone out with her mother a few times and Nala would give instructions like Vitani but the situation always seemed more relaxed as they also talked of other things. Vitani seemed to take each hunt very seriously and acted like it was a disaster when they missed an opportunity and could be very hard on Kiara. This seemed very silly to Kiara as it was not as if they would stave if they missed. The pride was so big now that at least one of the hunting parties would be successful every two days or so.

Kiara didn't have long to dwell on this though as before she knew it Vitani came charging out of the grasses and the herd just as predicted fled right into her direction. Kiara dashed out when they were close and almost immediately had the weak zebra in her sights. Instinct took over and she lunged at it wrapping her arms around its neck and biting down hard. The zebra though not fully grown was larger then she and she had to hang on for a while as it struggled and continued to move forward in panic. Vitani soon caught up and leaped at from behind and onto it's back. Vitani then shifted her weight to the side that Kiara was on and the animal toppled over with the added weight. Vitani also bit down hard onto it's neck.

In a few minutes it was all over. Kiara released her grip when the struggle has stopped and although she tried to avoid it caught sight of the animals face. It was frozen in a pose of distress. She looked away quickly and tried to remember that this was all part of the circle of life. He eyes got a little watery and she wiped them quickly with her paw hoping Vitani wouldn't notice. Vitani did notice, and just shook her head but choose not to say anything on the matter.

"Well, done Kiara," said Vitani, licking her bloodied paws as she lied down to rest after what was an exhausting kill. "You've successfully brought down your first zebra."

"Thanks," said Kiara who felt a mix of happiness and guilt from the kill.

Although lions usually would take a kill immediately back home as traditionally the males of the pride get to eat first, Simba had made it clear that he had no issue with the hunters having some immediately as they after all did the hard work. Many lions and lionesses thought this strange but then again Simba had a very different upbringing to most lions so it was accepted and naturally the hunters didn't object.

As Kiara and Vitani were eating some of the kill they saw some smoke a short distance away.

It wasn't completely uncommon for the grasslands to catch fire in these temperatures so they looked at each other in concern.

"We shouldn't have to worry too much, should we?" asked Kiara. "It's a fair way away and it's not like it's…….," she stopped as a gust of wind just blew past them, ruffling their fur "……windy," sighed Kiara.

The wind picked up and now they could see the actual flames. The wind which had come so suddenly was blowing in their direction and the fire as a result was gaining speed and was headed straight towards them.

"Grab what you can and run," yelled Vitani, grabbing a zebra leg. Kiara ripped off a front leg in her jaws and ran with Vitani away from the gaining flames.

They kept running and it seemed the fire would circle them. They found themselves right at the edge of the gorge. Looking back it appeared that their fire was not the only one. They could see behind it many fires in different sections of the grasslands all burning at once.

"The wind must have spread the fire other areas! The whole Pride Lands seems to be burning," cried Kiara in distress dropping the zebra leg.

There was no where to go but down into the gorge.

"This way," shouted Vitani who had found a ledge not too far down which they could climb down onto. Vitani had thrown her zebra leg into the gorge. Kiara followed and also threw hers down into the gorge. Together they were able to find enough footing to get themselves to the bottom. Looking up they saw the area they had just been standing on at the top in flames. The other wall of the gorge was far too steep to climb and they were too exhausted to try so all they could do was lie there at the bottom and pant. The fire didn't travel down rock and sand so they were safe for now. All they could hope was that their family and friends were safe too.

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That was a fast update for me!! It's the weekend and soccer training was cancelled so I thought why not? : )

Hope you liked this chapter. Please review. Wow this was nearly 2000 words. If only I could write assignments this fast lol.


	3. Chapter 3

Hi there! Yes I know it has been about half a year (maybe more) since my last update but hopefully a few of you still remember this story. I had actually written half this chapter about half a year ago but I think it got accidently deleted from my old computer and I could check because it has since died ha ha. Hopefully this version is better anyway. A special thanks to Sunrise19 who reminded me this story needs an update. It is really encouraging to know people are interested.

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Simba kept pacing in up and down in Rafiki's tree while Nala just sat on a branch staring out into the burning Pridelands. It had now been hours since the fires commenced and they at their present state showed no signs of slowing down. It just kept spreading. To the lions it seemed to be some horrible unstoppable beast devouring everything in its path. They hated to feel so useless, but they could not risk their own lives by attempting to go out and find everyone.

Sasa had been the first to see the flames from where they were but the lions had been the first to smell it. Rafiki with help from Sasa had created a magical barrier around the tree using a variety of liquids and powers hanging in gourds. The spell seemed to take a lot out of the elder of the mandrills as it involved a fair bit of chanting and at a stage it seemed the spell was sucking energy out of the mandrills in order to work, so he was now resting in the upper branches of the tree.

Sarabi lay on a large branch next to Sarafina and the two seemed to be worried but trying very hard to appear calm for the sake of everyone else. Panicking would solve nothing.

"She'll be Ok, Simba, I know she will," said Nala trying to comfort her mate as she knew he was worried about their daughter. She also kept repeating this in her mind in attempt to convince herself of her daughter's welfare. '_At least she has Vitani with her,'_ she thought.

Suddenly Nala could hear a desperate scraping sound at the bottom of the tree. Nala looked down from where she was sitting and was shocked to see a very exhausted and burnt looking Pumbaa attempting to climb the tree which was near impossible as hooves were not designed to perform such feats. Pumbaa hadn't looked up and seen her yet so he was still huffing in a panic and achieving only long scrap marks in the bark.

"Pumbaa!" called down Nala.

The warthog looked up with a face covered in sweat and his ears singed_._

"Nala," he huffed, "thank goodness, you're alright."

"Stay there," said Nala, " I'll come down and help you."

Then she leapt down and out of the tree, much to Simba and the others surprise, as they hadn't at this point noticed the warthog below. Nala nimbly landed next to Pumbaa. The soil was warm beneath her paws.

Nala wanted to get Pumbaa into the safety of the tree as soon as possible as the flames were drawing ever nearer and Pumbaa was burnt enough as it was.

She put her head under his hind legs so as to lift him onto her shoulders. Pumbaa was heavy, heavier than he use to be when he was young. She was strong though so able to, with him on her back, get up onto her hind legs and reach with her front legs as high up the tree as possible. Simba saw what was happening so he was able to reach down and grab onto Pumbaa with one of his paws and with his teeth and pull him the rest of the way up. Pumbaa flinched a little as he was old and as such didn't have the patch of loose skin on the top of his neck which would have made being dragged up in that fashion much easier, but he wasn't in too much pain as Simba didn't break the skin.

Once he was up Simba stumbled backwards a bit and Pumbaa fell into a heap onto the thick branches, which made up the trees "floor". Nala bounded back up shortly panting a little from the effort of holding the warthogs weight on her shoulders.

"Simba," said Pumbaa through gasps and touching Simba's paw with his hoof for comfort. He was very glad to see the king who he regarded as a son was safe.

"Pumbaa, your exhausted," commented Simba which inspecting his friends condition, "and your burnt too," he added smelling alongside Pumbaa's usual oder the stench of burnt fur.

Rafiki who at this point had noticed the warthogs presence rushed down the tree, almost falling on the way. "I will tend to the warthog," he announced and started inspecting Pumbaa before Sasa gently pushed him out of the way and said "No, master allow me." Rafiki gave her a look at this comment as if she had dared to imply that he was incapable so she quickly added, "I need the practice", at which Rafiki nodded and backed away while she tended to the hog.

"I ran…," Pumbaa told Simba through huffs while Sasa poured some strange liquid onto his burn wounds, "I ran all the way to Pride Rock through the smoke and fire hoping you…… and Timon and found your way back there….but only some of the older lions and cubs were there… so I ran here…nearly didn't make it. Everything is burning… never in my life have I ever seen so much fire." He then looked round at everyone in the tree with desperate eyes and asked. " Is Timon here?"

Simba sadly shook his head, "No, I haven't seen him."

"Oh" sighed Pumbaa," I should never have left him…It's all my fault."

"Don't be silly Pumbaa," said Sarabi, " He's a big boy," when Pumbaa looked at her puzzled she corrected, "I mean he's been around a long time, I'm sure he knows how to look after himself."

Pumbaa gave a doubtful nod then rested himself down into a lying position in the now quite crowded tree, knowing that he couldn't go out there again and all he could do was wait and hope for the best.

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Timon had climbed up a tree when he saw the flames coming. He knew he couldn't outrun the flames and thought that maybe he would be safer if he could be above the flames. He did not know as much about the world and how things worked as he thought he did, otherwise he would have realised that smoke rises and that wood is highly flammable.

He did not like fire at all. The only other times in his life he had seen fire were during the battle to regain Pride Rock from Scar and the Hyenas and the time when Vitani and Nuka had used fire to trap Kiara. Both of these times, fires had threatened to endanger the lives of a loved one or himself as he and Pumbaa had actually almost got trapped in the same fire Kiara had those months ago. They were trying to find her at the time as she had run away from them yet again and were following her scent so were not too far away from the scene. He was lucky that time that Pumbaa was able to carry him and outrun the flames. This time however he was all alone.

Soon flames surrounded the tree and the smoke was unbearable. His eyes stung and he was having trouble breathing. He tried to climb higher. He managed to gain a few centimetres but he couldn't go any further as the tips of the branches were too thin to carry even his small weight. '

'_This is it,' _he thought with a gulp, '_I'm going to die.'_

The mixture of extreme heat and smoke made him drowsy and he felt himself struggling to stay conscious. He knew that if he were to pass out now he would fall to a fiery death. At this point a few lower branches had also started to burn. This distressed the meerkat greatly but he could not climb and higher or further away.

Suddenly in the distance he saw the silhouette of a bird approaching. _'Hey maybe I won't burn to death after all, I'll just get devoured by a hawk instead,' _he thought morbidly.

As the bird came closer he realised it was too small for a hawk or large bird of prey. The bird was actually not much larger than himself.

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Zazu had been flying around frantically during this time in order to see if the royal family were indeed safe. He knew the relative whereabouts of everyone as he made it his business to know everyone else's business, a trait everyone both loved and hated him for.

First, he wanted to double check that the King and Queen were indeed safe as he knew if something were to happen to them the kingdom would suffer as he didn't think that Kiara and especially Kovu were ready to step up and be the rulers. Once he had done that Kiara would of course be his next call of business. He was on his way to Rafiki's tree when his keen eyes spotted a tiny and familiar form clinging to the topmost branches of a small tree.

'_Oh dear,' _he thought, _'that meerkat certainly has a talent for getting himself into trouble.'_

He swooped down to see if there was anything he could do to help.

"Zazu?" said Timon in a near whisper, almost as if he wasn't sure if he was really there or his mind was playing tricks on him. "What are ya doing here?"

"I might ask you the same question," replied the hornbill. "You do realise that being here is pretty suicidal, you would have been smarter to dig yourself a hole and take shelter underground."

"Couldda……shouldda…. can't anymore," retorted Timon between gasps for air.

Zazu could see he must have been there for a while as he seemed a bit out of it and was having trouble breathing and keeping his eyes open.

"Go," said Timon looking up at Zazu, his eyes now glistening with tears, "There is no reason why we should both die, just tell Pumbaa I'm sorry…I should have gone with him, and tell Simba that…."

"Don't be daft," said Zazu touching the meerkats shoulder comfortingly with his wing. "I didn't come here to say goodbye, I intent to get us both out of this pickle."

"And how do you intend on doing that?" asked Timon before going into a coughing fit.

Zazu looked around. The situation did look quite hopeless. There was only one thing he could think of but that would involved carrying the meerkat who although small was not tiny enough for him to carry with ease. His kind just weren't designed to carry that much weight in flight.

"_Maybe he's right,'_ thought Zazu. '_Maybe I should just leave him to his fate here rather than risk my own life saving his. We don't even get on that well after all…'_

Then Zazu looked upon the now quivering form of the terrified meerkat, '_No,' _he decided, _'I simply could not live with myself if I just left him here to perish, and Simba would never forgive me for it either….. I must try.'_

Zazu then flew over the meerkat and hovered over his head. "Grab on!" he yelled down at the meerkat.

"What!?" Timon croaked up at him. "Have you gone nuts!?"

"Quit possibly," replied the bird, "now grab on!"

Timon grunted and released one shaky paw from the branch he had been holding on to for dear life and grabbed onto Zazu's right ankle. The he grabbed onto the other with his left paw. Zazu then wrapped his talons around Timon's shoulders.

Although Zazu could feel the meerkat holding on, the grip was weaker than he expected and he knew the meerkat didn't have long if they took any longer so he took off straining his old wings as hard as he could to gain any altitude while carrying such a heavy burden. The same wind he had cursed for spreading the fire actually worked in his favour and helped move them along. Thankfully the hot air rising cause a bit of an updraft and Zazu was able to keep them above the flames

With help of the wind he managed to get them to an area without flames beneath but they were still not far away enough to escape the smoke and visibility was very limited. He could hear the meerkat gasping below him. He had been quiet, unusually quiet. Then he heard a faint whisper "Sorry," came the barely audible meerkats voice and the hands around his ankles dropped and the meerkat was unconscious.

Zazu now beat furiously as with the meerkat no longer holding on he became very difficult to carry. His wings ached as they had never ached before.

Zazu couldn't hold onto the meerkat for any longer. With Timon unconscious he had become a dead weight He tried to glide down to the ground but his grip on Timon's shoulders failed him and he dropped the unconscious meerkat into a nearby shrub.

Zazu circled the shrub coughing as he did. He was finding it near impossible to breath as not only was the smoke choking him and in addition to this, he was absolutely exhausted from carrying all that extra weight.

The hornbill searched for the place where Timon landed desperately with his eyes but they were at this point bloodshot and sore. His vision grew blurry and his eyes watered. He was getting dizzy and breathing now become so hard he felt more like he was underwater than in the air and finally the limited vision he had flickered became fuzzy like the TV screen when there is no reception.

Then the bird dropped to the ground and all was black.

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Hope you liked it : D It was longer than I expected it to be which is a good thing. Hopefully I won't take so long to get a new chapter up 


	4. Chapter 4

Here again with yet another chapter! To be honest although I have some rough idea of some things that will happen in this story I am pretty much making things up as I go lol. Anyway hope you all enjoy this instalment.

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'_Argh my head!' _thought Timon, as he woke up and then cradled his aching head in his paws. '_Where am I?' _was his next thought as he looked around. Leaves and thin branches surrounded him. Some of the branches directly above him were snapped or damaged. '_I bet I hit a few of those on my way down,' _he mused as he remembered what happened.

"Zazu?" he called. "Hey Banana Beak!!"

There was no response. Timon decided to climb to the top of the shrub he was under to have a look around. It took him a bit longer than it normally would to reach the top as he was still quite weak from the ordeal of nearly burning and then nearly suffocating in the smoke and fire but he made it and then in classic meerkat sentry pose he surveyed the area. He could tell he must have been out for a while as despite the smoke in the sky making it harder to discern what time of day it was he could tell it was much later in the day than he thought it would be.

He was shocked to find the area burnt only 10 meters away. '_Wow that was a close one!' _

It was clear that the winds must have changed direction just in time. With his keen eyes he could see the very tips of the flames in the distance heading to the west, so he wanted to get moving fast in case the wind decided to change back and engulf him after all.

'_Still no sign of Zazu…' _he thought as he looked around a little more frantically for the bird. "Ah ha!" he said out loud as he noticed some slightly sooty but still unmistakably blue and white feathers blowing in the breeze on the tip of some branches on a nearby shrub.

He climbed down his shrub as fast as he could and rushed over to the one where he had seen the feathers. From underneath it he could see feathers on a few of the thin branches so knew that wherever Zazu was he must be pretty scratched up or worse…

Timon looked around the area for some time. He even found a spot that looked like something about Zazu-size had crashed there but the hornbill was nowhere to be seen. _'Maybe something got to him before I did,' _thought Timon with a gulp suddenly feeling sick in his stomach. He was contemplating all the horrible things that could have happened when some heavy breathing interrupted his thoughts, _'Oh crap…it's come back for seconds!'_

He started to walk slowly backwards wanting to get out of the area when he walked into something which grabbed onto his shoulder and….

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" the meerkat screamed spinning around to face his attacker.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" screamed back the creature that had grabbed him.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" they both then screamed at the same time before Timon finally realised it was Zazu embraced the bird into a spine crunching hug. Zazu cringed at this but was happy all the same that the meerkat was alive and well.

When Timon released Zazu from the hug they both yelled at each other in unison "WHY DID YOU DO THAT? ME WHAT DID I DO? YOU SCARED ME!"

Then the both took a breath and still simultaneously sat on the ground catching their breath.

"Soooo," began Timon a little awkwardly after a substantial silence, "we're alive."

Zazu nodded.

"Well, that's a plus," said the meerkat.

He looked over at his companion who, like him, was covered in ash. Zazu as Timon had predicted from looking at the feathers and branches in the shrub had his fair share of scratches and seemed to be cradling his left wing in the other as if it were in pain.

"You haven't broken that have you?" the meerkat inquired.

"Hopefully not, but it hurts and don't think I will be able to fly with it for a while," replied the bird.

" Bummer."

There was another long pause.

"Oh what are we going to do? What will we do?" wailed Zazu unexpectedly jumping to his feet and flapping about, "WE"RE DOOMED" He then grabbed Timon by the shoulder with his good wing and shook him fiercely "DOOMED! I tell you DOOMED!!" He then ran around in a circle sobbing and muttering things about how they were going to die because they were so far away from anywhere safe, and he couldn't fly etc etc until Timon finally stood up and slapped him in the face.

"CUT IT OUT!" yelled Timon.

Zazu just stared in shock rubbing the cheek that was hit.

"I don't like our situation any more than you do," said Timon in a voice so serious that Zazu found it a bit eerie. "We are going to get out of this. Wasn't it you back there," he pointed in the direction of the tree where he had only a few hours ago nearly lost his life, "that said you were going to get us of this 'pickle' alive?"

"Well, yes, then but now we.." began Zazu.

"But nothing bird-boy," cut in Timon. "Look by all logic we should be dead. Your not suppose to be able to carry my weight but somehow you did and by the looks of things we have both been out of it for ages and should have either been burnt or eaten by now, but we're not! Obviously someone up there must like us and I don't know about you but I'm not going to after having two narrow escapes from death just sit here and wait for it. I'm going to try to find our friends or at least somewhere safe. Now are you coming with me or not?" he demanded holding his paw out to the bird who was just staring at him in shock and wonder.

Zazu shakily took the meerkats paw and gave a small smile "Why not?" he shrugged and wiped away his tears.

"Then let's go," exclaimed the meerkat heading further east not really sure where he was heading but pretending he knew exactly where he was going.

"By the way…" Timon said as they walked, "thanks…… for saving me."

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Kiara and Vitani, were walking in relative silence along to bottom of the gorge. They were hoping to either find somewhere less steep on the side, which lead to safe ground or for signs that the fire had stopped on the more accessible, but still reasonably steep side.

The ground was hot under their feet as there was no shade where they walked.

Finally Kiara stopped and put the leg of the Zebra, which she was still carrying from their kill, down.

"Can't we just stop for a short break?" asked Kiara panting.

"And just stay in here like trapped rats?" retorted Vitani after placing hers down as well.

"Well, lets at least loose the meat, " said Kiara indicating the leg of Zebra she was carrying which after their already long walk seemed to be getting heavier.

"Look princess," Vitani began in a rather ticked off tone, "I know that you may be use to having an unlimited supply of food on demand but when you have lived in starvation like I did for most of my life you think twice about wasting anything. Besides we have no idea how long we are going to be stuck down here for so I suggest we keep those until we need them."

"Fine we will keep going," sighed Kiara picking the leg of meat, which in the heat wasn't really smelling that fantastic anymore and was beginning to attract flies.

"I'm surprise you of all lionesses are willing to dump a meal so quickly," continued Vitani who had yet to pick her zebra leg back up.

Kiara raised her eyebrows in slight confusion of this comment.

Vitani rolled her eyes and explained, "Since you're the one who is always going on about how sorry you feel about the 'poor little prey animals' I'm surprised you would by dumping the meat allow the animal's death to be in vain."

With that Vitani picked her zebra leg back up and padded forward seeming to be quit pleased with her argument. Kiara grunted and followed. What Vitani said had annoyed her but she knew deep down that she had a point.

After what seemed at least another hour of walking in silence Vitani indicated with her head a climbable exit on the steeper side of the gorge. With some effort, and a bit of a balancing act due to still holding the meat, they made it up an out of the gorge and beheld their surroundings.

Kiara gasped and dropped her meal "The Outlands."

Vitani put her meat down, stared out at the landscape and sighed gloomily "home sweet home."

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Hope you all liked that chapter and thanks to everyone who reviewed the last one. Yes I know I broke Zazu's wing in a past fic of mine too but I need him to be reasonably helpless and that doesn't happen if he can fly lol. I hope Vitani didn't seem too nasty in this but I always felt these two would have a strained relationship as they are so different and have had basically the opposite life experience before Vitani joined the pride.


	5. Chapter 5

Thank you to everyone who reviewed! I appreciate it very much. A big thank you to the silent readers as well! I took longer than I thought I would to post this up. You would think that with all the heat we have had here (Sydney reached 42 degrees C the other day or for my American friends 107.6 degrees F) I would get inspired. I don't know if you have all heard but the state of Victoria has had horrible bushfires and the death toll has reached 181. I don't know anyone personally who has lost their home but so many people down there have and it's just awful to hear about it on the news, some people have lost everything. I think last I heard it was 5000 homes gone.

Hope you all like this chapter.

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Kiara and Vitani gazed out at the barren wasteland known as the Outlands. To one of them it was a mysterious place rarely visited, to the other it was a familiar place full of memories, most of which were bad.

"Well it's good we're here in a way," said Kiara trying to be optimistic, "since your familiar with this area we should be able to find a safe way back to the Pride Lands."

"Sure thing," replied Vitani, rolling her eyes, "these lands are pretty huge though, not to mention with hardly any shade or water to drink."

"Well couldn't we just follow the side of this gorge?"

"It's, getting late and there is no sign of this inferno slowing down," said Vitani. " We can try to get back here tomorrow to see if the fire has stopped. If we hurry we might get to shelter by nightfall. I know a place not too far from here. I'd rather not go but I don't see any other options."

Kiara lifted an eyebrow wondering where this place was, as she couldn't see anything but flat land in front of her.

"This way," instructed Vitani before lifting her load of food and heading into the direction of the setting sun. Kiara followed.

After walking for what seemed an age and trying to keep up with Vitani's brisk pace Kiara caught sight of a dark brown peak in the distance. As they drew closer the brown peak became a strange spire-like rock formation. It looked quite ghastly. It became obvious very quickly that this unsettling looking rock formation was where they were headed.

The ground was even worse in this area as it was really hard and full of cracks. There were no plants in sight except for the odd dead tree of two.

The rock formation had an opening. Kiara saw Vitani hesitate a little before pulling herself together and walking inside. Kiara without asking questions followed.

The inside of the cave was huge and empty except for one strange tree stump that looked almost alter-like in the middle. There was so much space inside that a whole pride of lions could live in there with room to spare. Kiara thought it was a bit like a Pride Rock gone wrong.

"What is this place?" asked the princess once they had settled themselves on the cool flat ground inside.

"This is where I grew up," answered Vitani flatly.

"Oh," said Kiara suddenly self-conscious and hoping Vitani didn't noticed how horrified she was with the places appearance when they entered. "It's um…it's very nice."

"Liar," snorted Vitani in a half laugh.

"Well it's cool and shady at least," defended Kiara trying as always to look on the positive.

"It looks like the abode some kind of dark cult," Vitani answered back simply, indicating the stump-alter with her paw.

"Hmm" hummed Kiara knowing that Vitani had seen through her false flattery. "Sooooo, what was that thing used for anyway?"

"That?" questioned Vitani. Kiara nodded." That creepy looking thing was were your mate use to sleep as a cub."

"Kovu slept there?"

"Until he was too big to fit anyway. Mum use to describe it as his little throne," explained rougher looking lioness.

"That's sweet in a way," thought Kiara aloud closing to ignore the fact that it was seen as a throne to Scars heir.

"It was really creepy actually, she use to anoint him with stuff and sing creepy songs to him while he was asleep. Sometimes I think she didn't just think he would be Scars heir, she thought he was almost like a reincarnation of Scar himself. "

"That is really creepy," the golden lioness replied.

"The creepiest part of it was that….I joined in," said Vitani quietly looking embarrassed.

"It's Ok," jumped in Kiara touching Vitani's paw lightly, "you were just a cub then, you didn't know any better."

"I know," said Vitani still looking away. "But I continued to look up to Zira longer than I should have. I'm not even sure why, it's not like she was a good mother to me anyway. Do you see that rock over there?"

Kiara nodded.

"When I was a young cub mother threw me across the cave. I hit my head of it and was out for a day."

"That's horrible!" commented a shocked looking Kiara.

"I got in her way I guess," she shrugged. "I think I was trying too hard get attention when she was feeding Kovu or something. She saved her worse abuse for Nuka though but he didn't ever seem to learn his lesson and just do as he was told. I thought following Mum's orders were for the good of us all. I never heard anything positive about Simba and your pride, I thought you were the tyrants"

Kiara could see that this place was bringing back hard memories for Vitani so tried to change the subject, "I certainly hope this fire stops soon. I wonder what caused it? Hopefully just the heat I can't imagine any of our subjects doing such a thing on purpose."

"You never know what anybody's capable of…..I started a fire once," said Vitani.

Kiara looked at her questioningly.

"Well Nuka and I did anyway," the lioness continued. "It's the reason why Kovu got to save you and join the Pride…we…we planned it all. I'm so sorry… I was such a horrible lioness back then" Vitani now looked like she was about to cry.

Kiara was at a loss for words. Being trapped in the fire was one of the most horrific experiences of her life.

"I…I forgive you," said Kiara wiping away a tear, which was streaming down her sister-in-laws face. She put her paw under Vitani's head so the she had to look her in the eyes, "Though your intentions were wrong, if that had never happened Kovu and I may never have been together. For that I thank you. I don't care who you were, what I care about is who you are now and don't think I have forgotten that you were one of the very first outlanders to put a stop to the fighting and join our side."

"You so nice," answered Vitani quietly after a silence. "I mean you're a bit of a whiner and a horrible hunter but you put up with me despite all I've done. I know I've been hard on you when hunting. I guess I've inherited some of my mother's unfavourable characteristics."

"Don't say that. True you can be occasionally inpatient but to be honest I probably need the harsh criticism," explained Kiara. "If I am to be queen and lead one of the hunting parties one day I need all the help I can get. If you have inherited anything from your mother it is the power to lead, you are a great leader just like she was but it's how you've chosen to use your leadership qualities which makes you worlds apart from Zira. What's brought all this on anyway? It's not like you to self doubt."

"This place…"said Vitani. "It still smells like my mother." Vitani then curled herself up facing away from Kiara and absentmindedly started to eat in silence.

Kiara didn't know how to comfort her friend. It was unlike Vitani to be so open about her feelings, past and doubts but being in her cubhood home seemed to bring everything back to the usually strong independent lioness. Kiara wasn't even sure if Vitani was so upset because some part of her still missed her mother or was more scared of turning into her mother.

Kiara sensed Vitani didn't want to talk anymore so she nibbled on her meal and they both fell asleep in silence.

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Kovu having smelt the fire quit early on his patrol of the Pride Land borders ad like Pumbaa ran back to Pride Rock itself. Pumbaa had made it back and left a fair while ago since he was not as far away from the rock as Kovu had been, also like Pumbaa when Kovu arrived he too was dismayed to find the King, Queen, his sister and Kiara had not made it back.

The cubs in the cave were all huddled in the back as they have never experienced fire before and didn't understand what was happening. What probably upset the cubs the most was the fact that their mothers and older Pride members were stressed and showing it. It was unlike the older lions to show their nervousness in the presence of the cubs.

Kovu tried to comfort a few of the Pride members with words but he honestly didn't know if there was anything he could say and soon gave up. Would they even take his words seriously? He was one of the youngest adults in the cave and it seemed unnatural for him to tell the more experienced all would be fine when he wasn't quite positive of that himself. He looked outside the cave and saw that a quarter of the lands had already been burnt and vast sections were still on fire. It was moving fast too, much faster than the one that Vitani and Nuka had started those years ago and that one didn't last nearly as long as this one as it was now dark and the blazes were not slowing.

He had no idea where Kiara could be but knew he was too exhausted to successfully find her and avoid danger to look now. He trusted that she was OK. She had to be OK as he knew he couldn't live without her and even considering the other possibility was not an option for him.

The next morning he would set out to find her, flames or no flames.

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There you have it another chapter. If any of you reading this has family or friends in Victoria where the fires have struck or you yourself have lost your home my heart and thoughts go out to you.


	6. Chapter 6

Greetings friends. Here you have it chapter 6. We finally get to see some Kovu action. I don't often write all that much about Kovu so I hope he is in character enough for all you Kovu fans. Thank you to all those who reviewed and a few of you who have recently put this of story alert :D Thanks also to the silent readers. Don't be afraid to put a review I don't bite even if you make some suggestions or tips that's OK so long as it is constructive and not mean lol.

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Dawn broke onto the Pridelands.

Nobody had had a very good sleep. Rafiki's tree was overcrowded and worry kept many awake, Kiara slept poorly because of the ghostly look of her surroundings while Vitani on the other hand felt like she was being haunted by the ghosts of her past. Zazu had a great deal of trouble sleeping as for one he was lost and secondly, due to not being able to fly he had to sleep underground in a rough tunnel Timon dug for them for protection. Birds just weren't meant to sleep underground the dirt got into his feathers and agitated him. Timon had trouble sleeping because despite proclaiming himself as 'Mr Hakuna Matata' he was actually really worried about Pumbaa and Simba, plus he hated sleeping underground too. Despite being a meerkat he had an unnatural mild case of claustrophobia.

Kovu was probably in the most comfortable situation of all. He was in Pride Rock where he usually slept, but he also found sleep near impossible as he was, unlike the others, alone. He was of course surrounded by older Pride members and a few cubs but he didn't really know these lionesses all too well. In the months he had been part of Simba's Pride he had been focusing on creating positive relationships with Kiara's close family and friends and hadn't really had much time to form the same bonds with the others. He felt a tinge of guilt, as he probably should have made more effort to get to know the members of the pride outside the royal family. It was them who, after all, made up the pride, as the rulers of a pride cannot function without a pride to rule. He also felt bad that some of the lions here were clearly ex outlanders but he didn't know them either. Zira's strict training program had not allowed him to socialise.

It was eerily still too, which made what noises there were magnified by one hundred. He could hear cubs sobbing, elders sighing, and the not too distant crackling of fire from outside.

When sleep did finally reach him he an unsettling dream.

_He and Kiara were running through the grasslands together being chased by a huge beast made of flame. The breast was about the size of Pride Rock, ran on all fours, had horns and left a trail of fire in it's wake. The sound of it coming towards them sounded like a stampede of trumpeting elephants were on their tail. Suddenly Kiara screamed as a flaming tongue, which suddenly came out of the beast's mouth, grabbed her. It shook her in it's mouth as an eagle shakes a mouse it has just captured, burning her screaming form, and then threw her back into the burning path behind it. "Noooooooo!" yelled Kovu._

He then woke up sweat covering his whole body. The lionesses and cubs around him were just staring at him in shock. Had he said the last part out loud? He stood up still shaking from his nightmare and made his way to the mouth of the cave. Dawn had broken. The fire still raved on and by looking back into the cave it was clear that neither Kiara nor any of those he was close with had made their way back in the night. He could tell that at least four lionesses from the Pride he was unfamiliar with but knew by sight had made their way back. One looked a little worse for wear but she wasn't in a life threatening condition.

"I'm going to find the others," stated Kovu firmly to those who were inside and still staring his way. He left quickly not wanting to leave any room for questioning. He bounded down the side of Pride Rock and looked at his surroundings. The ground here was ash. Luckily the few trees and greenery on the actual rock itself had not caught flame. He had not known the fire had come so close; the rock had truly acted as a safe haven for those inside. How he could have slept through that he did not know, but it may have explained why the heat in his dream seemed so real.

He could see three active blazes. One in the distance behind the rock. He guessed this was the one the must have swept past them during the night. The creatures of the Sunland's would not be happy as it was heading right towards their territory. Kovu longed for Zazu at this time as Simba's Pride were friendly with the Sun Pride lead by King Makalo and Queen Jellina and he wanted to warn them of the oncoming danger, but for now he had to worry about his own family.

The second fire he saw was to the east sweeping near the border of the grasslands and the elephant graveyard. The third fire was the largest and most central. It had left a path of destruction thought-out the middle of the lands. While it was still central he could see it came in from the west and swept along the edge of the gorge and around Rafiki's tree. It was still close to the tree but didn't appear to be burning it. In fact it looked like a ring of fire surrounded the tree and couldn't for some reason reach it. Kovu didn't know Rafiki could do such feats, he thought he was just a medical Sharman.

Vultures swarmed in the areas where the fire had passed through, picking through the corpses of those who either did not see the flames coming or were not quick enough to get away. They were the only ones who could enjoy such devastation.

He headed towards Rafiki's tree in the distance, as he knew that at least Rafiki and Sasa would be there. It was a fairly long walk so he just hoped the fire would have left that area once he arrived. The young lion had to watch his step as he walked as the ground was covered in still smoking sticks and branches and the odd dead animal.

After a long walk ,he soon realised he couldn't get any closer to the tree as if the winds were heading in his direction and the fire although now past the tree was still between it and him and if he headed that way he would be burnt to a crisp.

He tried to think of places where Kiara and the others may have gone and on top of that somewhere safe he could go as it looked like he may have started to walk into a death trap.

'_I'll head towards the waterhole' _he thought and headed in that direction

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In Rafiki's overcrowded tree the gang had noticed the fire was no longer surrounding them but heading away towards the middle of the lands. It had been surrounding them all night, which seemed strange as fire naturally moves with the wind and is not in one place for so long. Sasa explained to them that the spell she and Rafiki had cast used a lot of energy. That energy managed to keep the fire away from the tree yet the energy coming off this force field also fed it at the same time. It was only now that the excess energy coming off the force field the fire was feeding on had weakened that the flames moved on. In truth the lions and warthog had trouble understanding all this but they just accepted it and nodded. Nobody was willing to admit their lack of understanding in front of the others.

Rafiki had not come back to the lower branches of the tree since the previous day. The spell had taken a great deal out of him and he was still sleeping. Sasa said it was best not to disturb him and all agreed.

"It's time," said Simba to Nala. Nala nodded in reply.

"Time for what?" asked Sarafina.

"Time to get out of here and do something," replied the King.

"Simba this is suicide," reasoned Sarabi, "It may have past us by but a great deal of the lands are still burning.."

"And if we don't do anything, there wont be anything left to save!" exclaimed Simba.

"I agree with Simba," said Nala seeing that her mother was looking very nervous at what was about to happen. "We have done nothing long enough, these are our lands and if we just sit here and do nothing we will loose everything."

"Nala I know your heart is in the right place but what can you do?" argued Sarafina. "It's not like you can just go out there and ask it to stop now is it?!"

"No….,"replied the younger lioness thoughtfully, "but there has to be something we can do. We could at least look for the other members of the Pride."

They could all hear the desperation in Nala's voice.

The two elder lions silently stared at their offspring. Pumbaa frowned, he considered Simba a son and also wasn't fond of the idea of him going out there if there was a possibility he may not come back. So far as he knew he had already lost Timon.

"Simba….Nala," began Pumbaa, obviously about to put in another 'stay here' argument but he never got it out as Simba cut in.

"Look you can't talk, you ran out and did the same thing," Simba, accused the warthog. "You would have been safe in Pride Rock but you choose to try and find Timon and I, so I don't see how you can be against this."

"Look where it got me Simba!" grunted Pumbaa, in reply, "I'm burnt, I nearly suffocated, I found you and then risked Nala's life because she had to come out of the tree to help me up and now it hurts to even move. I don't want the same thing to happen to you so I have every right to tell you not to go out there!"

Simba hesitated not knowing how to respond. It was unlike Pumbaa to get angry and defensive. He was thinking of a reply but one wasn't coming to him.

"It won't happen to him" came Rafiki's voice from above. Everyone looked up and saw him stumbling down the tree. Sasa instantly came up to assist him so he wouldn't fall. He looked physically older than he had the day before and extremely fragile.

"It wont happen to Simba or Nala," continued the mandrill, "because I'm coming with dem."

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Finished. It's cliffhangerish I know but I like to end like that :P Hope you liked it. It will be better when Kovu meets up with someone, as currently he has nobody to talk to. Hope you all liked this instalment. Cheers.


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